What's a Witch to Do?: A Midnight Magic Mystery (12 page)

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s fine,” he mutters, embarrassed to hell. “I’m just going to get some water. Excuse me.” He all but flees inside.

Okay, no idea what that was about. Note to self: don’t touch him. I turn my attention to the girls, walking over and sitting on the grass next to them. “How was school?”

“Boring,” Sophie says.

“I got a check plus on my spelling test,” Cora says.

“That’s great. And did you have fun with Adam?”

“He let me get Twinkies,” Cora says, “
and
Oreos.”

“He did, huh?” I ask, petting her hair before I stand. “Well, you have fun painting. I have class. You two stay here and keep working.”

Adam walks back out with three juice boxes. We pass each other, but he just nods. “For my assistants,” he says as I step inside.

I barely have time to change clothes and grab a snack from my now fully stocked fridge before my students start arriving. The majority of them are younger and female, from sixteen to twenty-five, with a few exceptions on both accounts. It’s open to everyone, but since I mainly do beginner potions, the more advanced witches approach me one-on-one for help. As they set up their mixing bowls, I move from room to room to check on them. The space at the kitchen counter with a perfect view of the backyard is the first to fill up. The ladies are doing less prep and more staring out the window and whispering about the man measuring and marking lumber. One eligible bachelor comes to town, and all the women go into heat.

“Oh please tell me he isn’t a cousin,” Belle says to Meg.

I needed a reason to pull them aside to grill them about Cheyenne. This’ll do. “Belle, Meg, I need you two to come with me right now, please,” I order.

The girls, both in their early twenties and petite, exchange a worried look but follow me out of the kitchen and up to my office. “Are we in trouble?” Meg asks when she walks in.

“No,” I say as I shut the door. “I just need to speak with you.”

“What about?” Belle asks.

“Cheyenne. In the past month, a few people have come to me with rumors about you two, her, and black magic. I want to hear your side before I decide what to do.”

All the color drains out of their faux tan faces as they exchange another petrified look. “We—we don’t know what you’re talking about,” Meg says.

“If you come clean now, I will take that into consideration, and what you tell me goes no further than this room.”

They glance at each other again. “You’ll, like, give us immunity or whatever?” Belle asks.

“Immunity?”

“Like if we confess you won’t kick us out of the coven?” Belle asks.

“It was Cheyenne’s idea, anyway,” Meg adds. “We didn’t want to. Honest!”

“We were just kind of bored,” Belle says. “And we didn’t hurt anyone. It didn’t work.”

“What exactly did you girls do?”

“We were hanging over at Cheyenne’s, like, two months ago,” Meg begins. “She said she found this grimoire with these awesome spells inside. Stuff you wouldn’t teach us, so we thought we’d try one out.”

“It was just a little hex,” Belle adds. “We tried it on Brittney to give her some boils because she was flirting with Cheyenne’s boyfriend earlier, but it didn’t work. We’re so sorry. Please don’t kick us out! We’ll never try black magic again, we promise.”

“What else was in the grimoire?”

“Bad stuff,” Belle says. “Stuff to trap spirits and jinxes and ones that required animal sacrifices.”

“Was it hand-written or a printed book?”

“It was a small black notebook with spells written or glued in,” Meg says.

“Do you know if she still has it, or if she’s tried other black magic spells?”

“We’re not really all that close,” Belle says. “We only went to her house because we were leaving Dixie’s Bar at the same time.”

“Well, have you heard anything? Rumors? People talking about how she, or anyone, doesn’t like the job I’m doing, or that they have anything against me?”

Both girls shake their heads no. Crap. “Are we in trouble?” Meg asks.

“Well. You did try to harm another person, that can’t go unpunished. You’re both banned from class for the next two weeks, starting tonight. Use this time to reflect on how stupid what you did was. That spell could have backfired, or worse. Now, go pack up your kits and I’ll see you in two weeks. And don’t tell
anyone
what you’ve told me, not even Cheyenne, alright?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the girls mutter.

“Go on,” I say. The girls scurry out of the room like a shot. I follow a few seconds later.

Okay, so Cheyenne has a book of black spells. Interesting but not definitive. Even I have a book or two on black magic. It’s only natural for witches to dabble in the forbidden, and I speak from experience. When I found out Dennis had a fiancé, I hexed him. I don’t know if he became impotent, but Granny found out and ripped me a new one. But if Cheyenne has skirted the dark side once and is actually adding black spells to the book, then that’s a horse of a different color. She wouldn’t go to the trouble of accumulating them unless she planned to use them.

Through the kitchen window, I view the wicked witch of the hour in my backyard dressed in super-tight jeans and an obscenely low-cut top, chatting with a smiling Adam. I’m no expert in flirting, but even I am not oblivious to what’s going on back there. Her I’m not surprised by; but him …

He leans in and speaks, causing her to burst into laughter and “accidently” place her hands on his pecs. With her, he doesn’t flinch or act as if her hands are coated in acid. A stab of I-don’t-know-what pierces my chest, and I bristle. He must like ’em whorish and evil. No accounting for taste.

“Oh lord,” Collins says behind me. “That man doesn’t stand a chance.”

I turn around and find her and Debbie staring out the window too. “Eww,” Debbie says.

“Hey, how you two doing?” I ask.

“Tired,” Debbie says. “This wedding is sucking out my soul.”

“Well, just remember, this time next week you’ll be in the Bahamas sipping mai tais with your charming husband.”

Collins puts her arm around Debbie. “And we will be here not so quietly hating your guts.”

Auntie Sara rushes in, lips pursed in disapproval as always. “Everyone’s arrived.”

“Thank you,” I say. “Attention everyone! Please go into the dining room so we can begin.” All the women in the kitchen obey, and I poke my head out the back door. “Cheyenne, class is about to start.”

“I gotta go,” she says to Adam with a pout. “Think about what I’ve said.”

“Oh, believe me, I will.”

I suppress an eye roll as she walks past me. His eyes follow her, but when they meet my hard ones, he smiles sheepishly. This time I don’t stop my eyes from revolving.

All nineteen women and three men wait around my table, where I take my place next to Auntie Sara at the head. Most students have their pads out except lazy Cheyenne and Debbie, who already knows the spell. Debs just likes to come to see all her friends and lend a hand. Cheyenne keeps glancing in the direction of the backyard and even gives a little wave. This will not be a fun class for her.

“It’s recently come to my attention that I have not been giving you a well rounded education,” I start. “Now, I know no one in this room is guilty of performing black magic, but not all witches are as honest as the Goodnight Coven. I realized you need to know how to properly defend yourselves against those … monsters,” I say as my eyes dart to Cheyenne, who is still gazing into the backyard. “So we will spend the first half practicing a protection spell, and the other making a charm bag. Auntie Sara?”

Auntie Sara flicks her fingers at me while saying,
“Efflo aeris,”
and I sneeze. Ivy used to drive me nuts with this hex, among others. Auntie Sara does it again, but this time I hold up my hand to focus my power and say,
“Reverto,”
and Auntie Sara sneezes this time. “Now, please note that this is an all-purpose deflection, but it won’t work with some higher-level hexes or if the witch attempting a hex is drawing more power from the ley lines. Still, it’s a good start. Okay, break into partners and take turns. Sara and I will move around and observe.”

I spend the next half hour strolling around the house watching a lot of people sneeze. Most get it quickly, both the hex and deflection, except for the few near the backyard who can’t unglue their eyes from a sweaty Adam. Those ladies require some glares before returning to the task at hand. Sophie and Cora keep giggling as Rosalie Dupres gives Cheyenne a sneezing fit, snot running down her nose. That’s what she gets for not paying attention. After the fourth try, Cheyenne rushes for a tissue.

Since she’s culled from the herd, I follow her to the bathroom. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she says after blowing her nose.

“You know I thought you, of all of them, would find this easy as pie.”

“I’m just a little distracted,” she says as she tries to step around me out of the room.

I block her way. “Yes, my cousin is very distracting. At least you seem to know the hex.”

“Yeah, well, everyone’s known that one since kindergarten,” she says defensively.

“And what other hexes do you know? I hear you’ve been working on some others.”

Her eyes narrow but before she can comment Auntie Sara rushes in. “That fool Brandie has a nosebleed from sneezing too much. Blood’s pouring everywhere.”

“Hell’s bells.” Great, instead of grilling a suspect, I have to go ice a nose.

When that crisis is over, I call them back into the dining room to demonstrate how to make a charm bag to ward off hexes. This proves to be less dramatic, just mixing herbs and stones and infusing them with magic. We even finish ten minutes early. I work the rooms, saying goodbye to those who don’t stay for wedding talk. Debbie holds court in the living room with about seven cousins gushing about her dress and lingerie for the honeymoon. Just talking about it makes her glow. My crowning achievement, that girl.

“She’s so happy,” Collins says as she sidles up beside me by the front door. “We should all be so lucky.”

“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. “Hey, I have a few minutes if you want to work on that illumination spell.”

“That’s okay. Debs and I are going back to my place to tackle the never-ending wedding crap. The seating charts still have to be done.”

“Hey, Mona,” Brandie, whose nose is still red, says, “I can’t find my black water vial.”

“Brandie, what the heck are you doing with black water anyways?” Collins asks.

“I don’t have it for black magic, just luck,” she whines.

“If I find it, I’ll keep it for next time,” I say.

“Thanks,” she says as she leaves. “See you Saturday at the coven meeting!”

“One of these days she’s gonna blow up the whole town,” Collins says.

Time to do some detecting. “Hey, I almost forgot, what is the name of that restaurant in Richmond you recommended to Debbie? The one downtown near Croatoan?” Which just happens to be Lord Thomas’s base of operations. “I’m thinking of taking her there after the co-op.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says.

“You go to Richmond a lot, don’t you? Can you think of another place?”

“I really don’t get there that often. Just take her somewhere in town.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Okay, time to switch tactics. “There is something else I wanted to speak to you about. In private.”

“Sure.” A few girls wave goodbye as we move onto the porch. I lead her toward the swing where we sit. “What’s up?”

“
Okay, this is something I have been considering for some time, and I want to run it by you before I do it.” Collins nods. “How would you feel about being named my successor?”

She does a double take, eyes narrowing. “I’m sorry?”

“As of right now, if I die, Erica Fitch is next in line for High Priestess. Now, I chose her ten years ago because she was the only viable option. That’s changed.”

“Why me?” she asks, nose crinkling.

“You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, you’re talented, and the others respect you.”

“People don’t respect me,” she says with a scoff. “Not like you.”

“Yes, they do. You’ve come a long way, Collins. You’re disciplined like no one else here. You have power inside you. And most importantly, you care about people. Everyone knows it.” I pat her hand. “Now, I don’t anticipate dying anytime soon, but I’d still feel better if I name you.”

She mulls this over, indecision all over her face. “I mean, you can if you want, but … ”

“What?”

She shifts uncomfortably in the swing, pulling her hand away. “Well, and I don’t really mean to offend you, but the coven is your whole life and … I—I don’t want that for myself. I got my own problems without taking on other people’s. I mean, it’s great you do, but it’s not for me. I don’t want to be at everyone’s beck and call twenty-four seven. Sorry.”

I stop myself from taking a literal breath of relief. “That’s okay. Like I said, it was just something I was thinking about.”

She nods. “And I am beyond flattered that you think I could fill your shoes, I really am. You have no idea what that means to me.” She smiles humbly before standing. “I’m gonna go rescue Debbie.” She starts walking toward the door but stops halfway and turns around. “Okay, I know I’m wasting my breath, and I can’t really believe I’m uttering these words, but … have you considered Cheyenne?”

“Cheyenne? Why?”

“I know what everyone thinks about her, but that’s just one side of her. She’s just always wanted the job, and maybe if she had a chance of getting it, she’d turn onto the straight and narrow. When she applies herself, she can be really powerful. She taught me quite a few things.”

“I’ll think about it,” I say.

“Just putting it out there,” she says as she walks inside the house.